Amur

Major river in the Russian Far East and Northeast China From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Amurmap

The Amur River (Russian: река Амур) or Heilong River (Chinese: 黑龙江)[8] is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur proper is 2,824 km (1,755 mi) long, and has a drainage basin of 1,855,000 km2 (716,000 sq mi).[1][9] If including its main stem tributary, the Argun, the Amur is 4,444 km (2,761 mi) long,[9][2] making it the world's tenth longest river.

Quick Facts Amur Heilong, Etymology ...
Amur
Heilong
Map of the Amur watershed
EtymologyFrom Mongolian: amar ("rest")
Location
Countries
Cities
Physical characteristics
SourceOnon-Shilka
  locationKhan Khentii Strictly Protected Area, Khentii Province, Mongolia
  coordinates48°48′59″N 108°46′13″E
  elevation2,045 m (6,709 ft)
2nd sourceArgun
  locationGreater Khingan, Hulunbuir, China
  coordinates49.937°N 122.465°E / 49.937; 122.465
Source confluence 
  locationNear Pokrovka, Russia
  coordinates53°19′58″N 121°28′37″E
  elevation303 m (994 ft)
MouthStrait of Tartary
  location
Near Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk Krai, Russia
  coordinates
52°56′50″N 141°05′02″E
  elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Length2,824 km (1,755 mi)[1][2] (AmurArgun–Hailar: 4,444 km)[2]
Basin size1,855,000 km2 (716,000 sq mi)[1] 2,129,700 km2 (822,300 sq mi)(with undrained areas)[2]
Width 
  maximum5,000 m (16,000 ft)
Depth 
  maximum57 m (187 ft)
Discharge 
  locationNear mouth
  average(Period: 2002–2020)12,360 m3/s (390 km3/a)[3] (Period: 1896–2004)11,330 m3/s (400,000 cu ft/s)[4]
[2]
Discharge 
  locationBogorodskoye
  average(Period: 2008–2019)11,459 m3/s (404,700 cu ft/s)[5] (Period: 1896–2004)10,100 m3/s (360,000 cu ft/s)[4]
[6]
Discharge 
  locationKomsomolsk-on-Amur
  average(Period: 2012–2019)10,259 m3/s (362,300 cu ft/s)[5]
Discharge 
  locationKhabarovsk
  average(Period: 2008–2018)8,384 m3/s (296,100 cu ft/s)[5] (Period: 1896–2004)8,360 m3/s (295,000 cu ft/s)[4]
Discharge 
  locationBlagoveshchensk
  average(Period: 1971–2000)2,859.1 m3/s (100,970 cu ft/s)[7]
Basin features
ProgressionStrait of Tartary (Sea of Okhotsk)
River systemAmur River
Tributaries 
  leftShilka, Amazar, Oldoy, Zeya, Bureya, Arkhara, Bidzhan, Bira, Tunguska, Bolon, Gorin, Bichi, Amgun, Palvinskaya
  rightArgun, Emuer, Huma, Xun, Kuerbin, Songhua, Nongjiang, Ussuri, Sita, Nemta, Anyuy, Gur, Yai
Close
Quick Facts Russian name, Russian ...
Amur
Russian name
Russianрека Амур
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese黑龙江
Traditional Chinese黑龍江
PostalHeilung Kiang
Literal meaning"Black Dragon River"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHēilóng Jiāng
Gwoyeu RomatzyhHeilong Jiang
Wade–GilesHei1-lung2 Chiang1
IPA[xéɪ.lʊ̌ŋ.tɕjáŋ]
Wu
RomanizationHa lon kaon
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationHāak-lùhng Gōng
JyutpingHaak1-lung4 Gong1
IPA[hak̚˥.lʊŋ˩.kɔŋ˥]
Southern Min
Tâi-lôHik-lîng Kang
Manchu name
Manchu scriptᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ
ᡠᠯᠠ
RomanizationSahaliyan ula
Close

The Amur is an important river for the aquatic fauna of Northeast Asia. The river basin is home to a variety of large predatory fish such as northern snakehead, Amur pike, taimen, Amur catfish, predatory carp and yellowcheek,[10] as well as several species of trout and anadromous salmonids. The largest fish species in the Amur is the kaluga, a sturgeon that is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, attaining a length as great as 5.6 m (18 ft).[11] It is also home to the northernmost populations of the Amur softshell turtle[12] and Indian lotus.[13]

Name

The Russian name Amur may come from the Tungusic term for “river”.[citation needed] Tungusic peoples are an ethno-linguistic group formed by the speakers of Tungusic languages (or Manchu–Tungus languages). They are native to Siberia and Northeast Asia.[14]

The etymology of the name Amur is unknown. One theory dictates that it comes to Russian through either the Evenki word amur or the Even word amar, both meaning "river" in their respective Tungusic languages. However, it is unclear whether Russian borrowed the name Amur from either Tungusic language rather than the other way around. An alternative theory suggests that Amur comes from the Mongolic language Dagur's, word for "big river," mur.[15]

Its ancient Chinese names were Yushui, Wanshui and Heishui,[16] with the latter name, meaning "black water", being the basis of the modern Chinese name Heilongjiang or "Black Dragon River", while the Manchurian name Sahaliyan Ula, the Mongolian names "Amar mörön" (Cyrillic: Амар мөрөн) originates from the name "Amar" meaning to rest and Khar mörön (Cyrillic: Хар мөрөн) mean Black River.[1]

Course

The river rises in the hills in the western part of Northeast China at the confluence of its two major affluents, the Shilka and the Argun (or Ergune), at an elevation of 303 metres (994 ft).[17] It flows east forming the border between China and Russia, and slowly makes a great arc to the southeast for about 400 kilometres (250 mi), receiving many tributaries and passing many small towns. At Huma, it is joined by a major tributary, the Huma He.[18] Afterwards it continues to flow south until, between the cities of Blagoveshchensk in Russia and Heihe in China, it widens significantly as it is joined by one of its most important tributaries the Zeya.[19]

The Amur arcs to the east and turns southeast again at the confluence with the Bureya, then does not receive another significant tributary for nearly 250 kilometres (160 mi) before its confluence with its largest tributary, the Songhua, at Tongjiang. At the confluence with the Songhua the river turns northeast, now flowing towards Khabarovsk, where it joins the Ussuri and ceases to define the Russia–China border. Now the river spreads out dramatically into a braided character, flowing north-northeast through a wide valley in eastern Russia, passing Amursk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The valley narrows after about 200 kilometres (120 mi) and the river again flows north onto plains at the confluence with the Amgun. Shortly after, the Amur turns sharply east and into an estuary at Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) downstream of which it flows into the Strait of Tartary.[20]

During years with heavy precipitation, the Amur river system is connected with the Kherlen river. The normally exit−less endorheic lake Hulun Lake, into which Kherlen flows, will overflow at its northern shore through the arroyo of Mutnaya Protoka, and the water will meet the Argun River (Ergune) after about 30 kilometres (19 mi). The Amur Basin of the KherlenArgun−Amur River system has a total length of 5,052 km (3,139 mi) to its river mouth on the Sea of Okhotsk.[21]

Tributaries

The largest tributaries of the Amur are, from source to mouth:[9][22]

There are also numerous lakes in the floodplain of the Amur. Some of the largest ones are Bolon, Khummi and Udyl.[23]

The main tributaries from the mouth:

More information Left tributary, Right tributary ...
Left

tributary

Right

tributary

Length

(km)

Basin size

(km2)

Average discharge

(m3/s)

Amur (Heilongjiang) 4,444 2,129,700 12,791
Lower Amur
Protoka Palvinskaya 34 6,675.4 75.7
Amgun 723 54,602.6 660
Akcha 58 987.7 11.1
Protoka Ukhta–Bichi 336 12,910.2 46.2
Poto 22 845.7 5.8
Kadi 52 645.9 7.6
Yai 118 3,865.4 28.8
Limuri 168 4,125.3 16.4
Salasu 68 1,205 6.9
Pisuy 59 856.2 2.7
Machtovaya 103 1,477.2 15.4
Gorin 390 21,953.6 150
Silinka 78 974.1 6.4
Bolin 43 1,219.8 14.1
Gur 349 11,635.4 226.3
Elban 99 1,756.8 27
Bolon–Harpi 239 13,129.7 245.6
Gili 22 1,328 25.1
Khoydur 41 571.2 11.7
Anyuy 393 12,528.7 298.4
Pikhtsa 90 872.9 19.1
Khar 66 1,307.3 28
Nemta (Neptu) 230 6,290 143.5
Sita (Strelka) 105 3,315.4 67.4
Levaya 421.4 9.9
Darga 50 1,628 36.8
TunguskaUrmi 544 30,070.2 595.6
Ussuri (Wusulijiang) 897 195,047.4 1,620
Middle Amur
Krestovaya 70 1,361.2 18.6
Nongjiang 4,469.9 30.1
Petrovskaya 62 996.8 11.4
Bira 424 9,279.1 84.2
Malaya Bira 150 1,946 13
Penghua 2,740.5 13.6
Solonechnaya 52 963.4 4.7
Sungari (Songhua) 1,927 552,629.8 2,591
Wanyan 163.9 1,815.1 9
Bidzhan 274 7,335.9 46.2
Dobraya 58 1,996.6 10.7
Samara 105 1,560.7 9.2
Pompeyevka 71 635.6 3.9
Jiayin 2,109.1 12.3
Wulaga 1,213.5 7
Khingan 93 2,012.6 13.3
Uril 105 1,160.4 7.1
Jielie 1,005.6 5.7
Wuyun 2,239.4 12
Arkhara 155 8,643.4 82.1
Bureya 739 70,141.2 932
Raychikha 97 760 3.8
Kupriyanikha 55 689 3.4
Kuerbin 221 5,826.2 22.2
Xun (Hsünho) 15,624.8 62.6
Zavitaya 262 2,835.1 13.7
Dim 1,348 6.5
Topkocha 44 978.8 4.5
Gilchin 90 1,492.7 6.7
Gongbiela 38.8 2,678.5 10.9
Manga (Big Alim) 58 733.1 3.4
Shijin 759 3.2
Zeya 1,232 232,076.5 1,807
Upper Amur
Fabiela 2,916.9 11.2
Fanqniuhe 747.8 2.9
Guran 55 781.3 3
Kuanhe 2,159 6.7
Belaya 77 1,069.7 3.7
Bereya 146 2,013.5 6.3
Huma 542 31,029.4 130
Belaya 102 1,176.8 3.6
Ulmin 67 985.8 3.2
Borya (Onon) 14 1,109.5 3.6
Gerbelik (Herbelic) 43 702.6 2.4
Olga 158 2,905.3 10.1
Burinda 80 2,371.4 7.7
Xiergenqi 3,807.6 12.5
Pangu 165 3,631.5 11.4
Osezinha 84 1,129.8 3.6
Emuer 469 16,106.1 46.2
Bolshoy Never 134 2,211.1 7.1
Oldoy 287 9,878.2 38.3
Urusha 200 3,442.3 13.4
Omutnaya 171 2,163.1 7.6
Urka 161 1,897.3 6.9
Amazar 290 11,031 37.9
Shilka (1) 555 206,000 571.1
Argun (Erguna) (2) 944 300,977 408.5
Argun main tributaries
Enhehada 2,130.8 4.5
Gazimur 592 12,047.5 32.4
Budyumkan 91 1,410.4 2.8
Uryumkan 226 4,337.5 9.3
Wumahe (Uma) 1,817.3 3.8
Urov 290 4,288.8 10.3
Abahe (Aba) 2,383 5.2
Jiliu 468 15,771.7 47.2
Moridaga 2,664.2 7
Nizhnyaya Borzya 1,793.2 5.2
Srednyaya Borzya 118 1,632.2 4.3
Verkhnyaya Borzya 153 4,028.8 10.7
Urulyunguy 189 8,924.1 17.9
Derbur 6,779.3 17.7
Genhe (Kenho) 400 15,787.8 58.1
Dalan Orom (Xinkai)–Kherlen (3) 1,284 140,000 40.7
Hailar 555 54,800 139.1
Hailar main tributaries
Morgele 319 4,936.4 12.4
Yimin 360 21,332.1 39.6
Moheri Tugaole 956.1 3.1
Teni 1,401.8 4.3
Miandu 6,659.8 28
Kudur 3,461.6 13.7
Dayan (Hailar) 121 3,325.4 13
Endorheic basin
Ulz 420 35,000 7.7
Source: [24][7][2]
Close

(1)Amur–ShilkaOnon: 4,354 km; (2)Amur–ArgunHailar–Dayan: 4,444 km; (3)Amur–Argun–Dalan OromKherlen: 5,052 km;

History and context

Many historical references distinguish two geopolitical entities in the area of the Amur: Manchuria (Northeast China) and Outer Manchuria. The Chinese province of Heilongjiang on the south bank of the river takes its name from the river, as does the Russian Amur Oblast on the north bank. The native Manchu people and their Qing Empire of China, who regarded this river as sacred,[citation needed] use the name Sahaliyan Ula (Black River).

The Amur is an important symbol of, and geopolitical factor in, Chinese–Russian relations. The Amur became especially prominent in the period of the Sino–Soviet political split of 1956–1966.

For many[quantify] centuries, inhabitants of the Amur Valley comprised the Tungusic (Evenki, Solon, Ducher, Jurchen, Nanai, Ulch), Mongol (Daur) people, some Ainu and, near its mouth, the Nivkhs.[25] For many of these groups, fishing in the Amur and its tributaries was the main source of their livelihood. Until the 17th century these peoples were not known to Europeans, and little known to the Han Chinese, who sometimes collectively described them as the Wild Jurchens. The Chinese-language term Yúpí Dázi 魚皮韃子 ("Fish-skin Tatars") came to apply to the Nanais and related groups as well, owing to their traditional clothes made of fish skins.[26]

Thumb
A remnant of Yishiha's monuments at Tyr c.1860

The Mongols, ruling the region as the Yuan dynasty, established a tenuous military presence on the lower Amur in the 13th and 14th centuries; ruins of a Yuan-era temple have been excavated near the village of Tyr.[27]

During the reigns of the Yongle and Xuande Emperors (early-15th century), the Ming dynasty reached the Amur in their drive to establish control over the lands adjacent to the Ming Empire to the northeast, which would later become known as Manchuria. Expeditions headed by the eunuch Yishiha reached Tyr several times between 1411 and the early 1430s, re-building (twice) the Yongning Temple and obtaining at least the nominal allegiance of the lower Amur's tribes to the Ming government.[28][29] Some sources report also a Chinese presence during the same period on the middle Amur – a fort existed at Aigun for about 20 years during the Yongle era on the left (northwestern) shore of the Amur downstream from the mouth of the Zeya River. This Ming Dynasty Aigun was located on the opposite bank to the later Aigun that was later relocated during the Qing Dynasty.[30] In any event, the Ming presence on the Amur was as short-lived as it was tenuous; soon after the end of the Yongle era, the Ming dynasty's frontiers retreated to southern Manchuria. [citation needed]

Chinese cultural and religious influence such as Chinese New Year, the "Chinese god", Chinese motifs like the dragon, spirals, scrolls, and material goods like agriculture, husbandry, heating, iron cooking-pots, silk, and cotton spread among Amur natives such as the Udeghes, Ulchis, and Nanais.[31]

Russian Cossack expeditions led by Vassili Poyarkov and Yerofey Khabarov explored the Amur and its tributaries in 164344 and 164951, respectively. The Cossacks established the fort of Albazin on the upper Amur, at the site of the former capital of the Solons.[citation needed]

Thumb
The Amur (under its Manchu name, Saghalien Oula) and its tributaries on a 1734 map by Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville, based upon maps of Jesuits in China. Albazin is shown as Jaxa, the old (Ming) site of Aigun as Aihom and the later, Qing Aigun, as Saghalien Oula.

At the time, the Manchus were busy with conquering China; but a few decades later, during the Kangxi era of 1661–1722, they turned their attention to their north-Manchurian backyard. Aigun was re-established near the supposed Ming site in about 168384, and a military expeditions went upstream to dislodge the Russians, whose Albazin establishment deprived the Manchu rulers of the tribute of sable pelts that the Solons and Daurs of the area would supply otherwise.[32] Albazin fell during a short military campaign in 1685. The Treaty of Nerchinsk, concluded in 1689, marked the end of the hostilities: it left the entire Amur valley, from the convergence of the Shilka and the Ergune downstream, in Chinese hands.[citation needed]

Fedor Soimonov was sent to map the then little explored area of the Amur in 1757. He mapped the Shilka, which was partly in Chinese territory, but was turned back when he reached its confluence with the Argun.[33] The Russian proselytization of Orthodox Christianity to the indigenous peoples along the Amur was viewed as a threat by the Qing.[34]

Thumb
Nanai village along the Amur, north of Khabarovsk, 1895

The Amur region remained a relative backwater of the Qing Empire for the next century and a half, with Aigun being practically the only major town on the river. Russians re-appeared on the river in the mid-19th century, forcing the Manchus to yield all lands north of the river to the Russian Empire by the Treaty of Aigun (1858). Lands east of the Ussuri and the lower Amur were acquired by Russia as well, by the Convention of Peking (1860).[35]

Bridges and tunnels

Quick Facts Chinese name, Traditional Chinese ...
Amur
Thumb
Khabarovsk Bridge across the Amur used to be the longest in Imperial Russia and Eurasia.
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese黑龍江
Simplified Chinese黑龙江
Literal meaning"Black Dragon River"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHēilóng Jiāng
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese阿穆爾河
Simplified Chinese阿穆尔河
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinĀmù'ěr Hé
Mongolian name
Mongolian CyrillicХар Мөрөн / Амар Мөрөн
Transcriptions
SASM/GNCKhar Mörön ("black river") or Amar Mörön ("rest")
Manchu name
Manchu scriptᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ
ᡠᠯᠠ
RomanizationSahaliyan Ula
Russian name
RussianАмур
RomanizationAmur
Close

The first permanent bridge across the Amur, the Khabarovsk Bridge with an overall length of 2,590 metres (8,500 ft), was completed in 1916, allowing the trains on the Trans-Siberian Railway to cross the river year-round without using ferries or rail tracks on top of the river ice. In 1941 a railway tunnel was added as well.[citation needed]

Later, a combined road and rail bridge over the Amur at Komsomolsk-on-Amur (1975; 1400 m) and the road and rail Khabarovsk Bridge (1999; 3890 m) were constructed.

The Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye railway bridge was proposed in 2007 by Valery Solomonovich Gurevich, the vice-chairman of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Russia. The railway bridge over the Amur will connect Tongjiang with Nizhneleninskoye, a village in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast.[36] The Chinese portion of the bridge was finished in July 2016.[37] In December 2016, work began on the Russian portion of the bridge. Completion of structural link between the two sides of the bridge was completed in March 2019.[38][39] Opening to rail traffic has been repeatedly delayed, with the December 2019 estimate being "the end of 2020",[40] and then 3rd quarter of 2021.[41]

Wildlife

Thumb
Nanai men with dog sled on the Amur, 1895

It is believed there are at least 123 species of fish from 23 families inhabiting the Amur. The majority are of the Gobioninae subfamily of Cypriniformes, followed in number by Salmonidae. Several of the species are endemic. Pseudaspius and Mesocottus are monotypic genera found only in the Amur and some nearby coastal rivers.[16] Other animals inhabiting this region include the Amur falcon, Amur leopard and Amur tiger; while some notable local flora include Amur cork tree, Amur maple and the Amur honeysuckle.[42]

Four species of the Acipenseridae family can be found: the kaluga, Amur sturgeon, Sakhalin sturgeon and sterlet. The Kaluga and Amur sturgeon are endemic. The sterlet was introduced from the Ob in the 1950s.[43] This region is home to the Kaluga fish (Acipenseriformes).

Direction

Flowing across northeast Asia for over 4,444 kilometres (2,761 mi) (including its two tributaries), from the mountains of northeastern China to the Sea of Okhotsk (near Nikolayevsk-na-Amure), it drains a remarkable watershed that includes diverse landscapes of desert, steppe, tundra, and taiga, eventually emptying into the Pacific Ocean through the Strait of Tartary, where the mouth of the river faces the northern end of the island of Sakhalin.[citation needed]

Thumb
Ice drift on the Amur

The Amur has always been closely associated with the island of Sakhalin at its mouth, and most names for the island, even in the languages of the indigenous peoples of the region, are derived from the name of the river: "Sakhalin" derives from a Tungusic dialectal form cognate with Manchu sahaliyan ("black", as in sahaliyan ula, "Black River"), while Ainu and Japanese "Karaputo" or "Karafuto" is derived from the Ainu name of the Amur or its mouth. Anton Chekhov vividly described the Amur in writings about his journey to Sakhalin Island in 1890.[citation needed]

The average annual discharge varies from 6,000 cubic metres per second (210,000 cu ft/s) (1980) to 12,000 cubic metres per second (420,000 cu ft/s) (1957), leading to an average 9,819 cubic metres per second (346,800 cu ft/s) or 310 cubic kilometres (74 cu mi) per year. The maximum runoff measured occurred in Oct 1951 with 30,700 cubic metres per second (1,080,000 cu ft/s) whereas the minimum discharge was recorded in March 1946 with a mere 514 cubic metres per second (18,200 cu ft/s).[44]

See also

References

Further reading

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